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Investors remain wary of peace and order in Mindanao 


Of wish lists and letting off steam was the order of the day as government, private sector and foreign stakeholders who claim a genuine caring and working for the development of Muslim Mindanao gathered at the Fairmont Hotel for the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines and Brain Trust’s “Ugnayan, Samahan at Kalakalan para sa Kaunlaran sa Musli Mindanao” forum on Thursday.
 
World Bank (WB) country director Motoo Konishi – and other resource persons – spoke in glowing terms about Mindanao’s natural and human resources.
 
But he and Eisenhower Fellows honorary chair Jaime Zobel de Ayala deplored the lack of security and rule of law that hamper development. 
 
However, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor-in-charge Mujiv Hataman and ARMM Board of Investments chair Sakira Hajan, countered that peace and order are natural offsprings of development, and not the other way around.
 
What Konishi lauded were the government peace panel and the Moro International Liberation Front for  having “fully embraced the peace process.” He vowed WB support “to translate the peace agreement to real progress on the ground” in terms of tourism and agri-business. 
 
The World Bank's International Finance Corp. was actively helping develop agri-business in southern Philippines, Konishi claimed.
 
To stop the violence, Konishi said the peace process must establish “legitimate institutions for security, justice and jobs” through government initiative and private-sector support. 
 
The WB's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will further lend for infrastructure, entrepreneurship training, and direct capital infusion in industries in Mindanao, he said.
 
The WB wants private investment coordinated with specific needs – as in harmonizing private investment and government infrastructure plans. But Mindanao must specify and plan for the help it needs and a platform for discussion, Konishi noted.
 
Shariah-law-compliant economy
 
With the peace accord signed, “the sounds of war will now be silenced,” Hataman said. 
 
He said the local government has established a “functional and efficient bureaucracy that stresses good housekeeping and accountability.” Some of these are the no-cash-advance policy, the e-government portal, and online transactions with the Commission on Audit, through which the COA can audit ARMM units anytime.
 
Hataman, who will deliver the State of the Region Address on Dec. 18, is pushing for a Shariah-law-compliant economy, saying it is not only possible but can succeed as experienced by Muslim Asian and Middle-East countries.
 
He cited the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos, which “saw the potential rather than the risk,” noting the security problems in Mindanao can be handled by “a strong and committed police force.”
 
With Mindanao strategically located within ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and has a cultural affinity with Islamic Asians and Arabs, joint ventures have been successful in boosting production and exports from the region, said ARMM Investments Board's Hajan. 
 
And with simplified business laws and investment procedures in place, Hajan is calling for the construction of more airports, seaports, and telecommunications infrastructure.
 
For him, the priority areas are exports and exports services, engineering, tourism, logistics, health, education and halal products, which qualify for tax holidays and duty-free importation.
 
In agriculture, banana, pineapple, oil palm, cassava flour, and corn starch still hold high growth potential, Hajan added.
 
'Building blocks of investment'
 
Ayala, however, noted “peace and security are the building blocks of investment and job-generation.”
 
To attain competitiveness and attract capital, Mindanao must work on its peace and order, he said. It must make it easier to do business and offer incentives. Upholding the rule of law – property rights, for example – must go hand-in-hand with “hard and soft infrastructure including education and health.”
 
The island must develop “human infrastructure to fill jobs or set up small and medium enterprises,” , and “overcome cultural barriers” to doing business, said Ayala. Owing to difficulties with the Shariah law, he said Bank of the Philippine Islands has minimal loan exposure in Muslim Mindanao and has focused on insurance.
 
There is also a need to ”uplift public perception” of the region and to initiate and strengthen local partnerships, the Ayala scion added. — VS, GMA News